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Summary

One of group of four barrows forming part of the Farway barrow cemetery. On north side of and partly cut by the B3174. Visible as a semi-circular earthwork mound on images derived from lidar data captured in 2016.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1010277: Four bowl barrows divided by the B3174, forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Farway Hill

Other References/Statuses

• MPP Archaeological Item Dataset: 134688
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY19NE/19/1
• Old SAM County Ref: 129C
• Old SAM Ref: 24963
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SY19NE9B

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BOWL BARROW (Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

Kirwan, R., 1869, Notes on the Prehistoric Archaeology of East Devon, 623 (Article in Serial). SDV135413.

One of three barrows cut into when track was made into a road circa 1800. Tradition says that sepulchral urns were discovered by not preserved.

Fox, A., 1948, The Broad Down (Farway) Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, 18 (No.20) (Article in Serial). SDV123165.

Cut into by main road on northern edge. Diameter 45 feet, height 3 feet, 6 inches. Hutchinson's No. 36.

Ministry of Works, 1951, Farway Group of Barrows on Farway Hill, 129C (Schedule Document). SDV345586.

[Part of] the central section of a Bronze Age cemetry. Cut on south-west by road ditch. Diameter 60 feet, height 6 feet. Hutchinson's No. 36b.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1975 - 1983, SY19NE9B (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV345592.

Site visit: 11th November 1975. diameter 17.5 metres, height 1.0 metres. Section visible on south edge, shows mound to be composed of dark soil. Barrow cut by main road on southern edge. Fox's No. 20.
Site visit: 8th February 1982: Bracken covered barrow with no ditch. Diameter 17.0 metres north-west - south-east and 11.5 metres north-east - south-west. Rounded top 1.1 metres high, exaggerated by spoil from an old excavation in north-west. Other details: Plan.

Silvester, R., 1977, Untitled Source (Worksheet). SDV345591.

Site visit 27th April 1977. South-west side not forested but part of forest track swings around it. Truncated by road verge so that less than half of the perimeter survives. Disturbed on east side. Hedge-bank runs over the top. Not in particularly good condition.

Grinsell, L. V., 1983, The Barrows of South and East Devon, 33 (No. 9) (Article in Serial). SDV337013.

Scrub. Slightly cut by road on south. Diameter 13.7 metres and height 1 metre.

Robertson, W. I., 1991, Barrow (Worksheet). SDV345593.

Site visit: 1st September 1991. Mound close to road, crossed by hedgebank. Covered in brambles. South side truncated by road. Mound of dark earth. Recent disturbance by rabbits.

Simpson, S. J. + Noble, S., 1993, Archaeological Survey and Management Study of Areas on Gittisham Hill, Farway Hill, and Broad Down, East Devon, 20 (Report - Survey). SDV123162.

Site visit: 3rd November 1992. Apparently stable. Almost inaccessible as heavily overgrown by scrubby undergrowth, bracken, brambles and small trees.

Gibbons, 1993, Untitled Source, MPP/AI 134688 (Un-published). SDV345585.

On the north side of the road is a bowl barrow with an estimated original diameter of about 15 metres and height of 1 metre. There is no evidence of a ditch. The construction of the road and verges has removed the south-west part of the barrow. The remaining segment of the barrow extends into the woodland beyond the verge, it is 7 metres wide, radially, and 1 metre in height. There is a rectangular intrusion measuring some 4 metres by 2 metres and 0.5 metres in depth in the north-west sector of the mound, possibly representing an antiquarian excavation. The road was constructed in the mid 18th century on the alignment of an existing trackway. It is reported by Hutchinson that the new road cut a mound and that pottery, bones and weapons were found. As he was unaware that the road cuts three of the Farway barrows, it is not clear which mound is being referred to. A forestry track runs between this barrow and the barrow to the north. The distance between this barrow and the adjacent barrows is 14 metres [north] and an estimated 2 metres [south].

Department of National Heritage, 1995, Four Bowl Barrows Divided by the B3174, Forming Part of a Round Barrow Cemetery on Farway Hill (Schedule Document). SDV345587.

[One of a group of] four of ten bowl barrows which together make up the Farway Hill round barrow cemetery. They are aligned north-south and are situated on the crest of a ridge to the immediate south-east of Farway Castle. The B3174 runs between the middle two barrows in this group. A forestry track runs between the two northern barrows. On the north side of the road is a bowl barrow with an original diameter of about 15 metres and height of 1 metres. There is an intrusion in the north-west sector of the mound, possibly representing an antiquarian excavation. There is no evidence of a ditch at any of the four barrows.
The Farway Hill barrows, a number of which form the barrow cemetery, comprise the central section of the most extensive and densest concentration of barrows in Devon. Their association with Farway Castle [a substantial circular earthwork believed to be contemporary] adds additional depth to this relict ritual landscape. Limited archaeological excavations of some of the barrows have revealed that they have a remarkable diversity in size and form, and in the nature of their funerary contents. These four barrows form an integral part of the barrow cemetery. Two of the barrows survive in good condition, and although the other two have been partially disturbed by road construction, and one by partial excavation, a significant proportion of their buried features remain intact, including the old land surface which will contain evidence of the past environment.

Exeter Archaeology, 2003-2004, East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey, Site No. 742 (Archive - Survey). SDV351568.

Barrow partly cut by road. Remaining part 7m x 1m high. Scheduled Monument.
SMR.

English Heritage, 2010, Management Agreement in Respect of Four Bowl Barrows Divided by the B3174, Forming Part of a Round Barrow Cemetery on Farway Hill (Correspondence). SDV345588.

Agreement between English Heritage and the Occupier regarding the management of the iste by the Occupier for a period of three years. See agreement schedule for details.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

Bluesky International, 2016, LiDAR DTM data (0.5m resolution) Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONBs: 3 transects, LIDAR SY1695 Bluesky International DTM APR-JUN 2016 (exact date unknown) (Cartographic). SDV359714.

A semi-circular earthwork mound is visible.

Sims, R., Knight, S. & Houghton, E., 2020-2021, East Devon AONB Lidar Assessment and Desk based Assessment (Interpretation). SDV363914.

The barrow is visible as a semi-circular earthwork mound on images derived from lidar data captured in 2016. The mound is circa 16m by 9m and has been truncated on its south-west side by the road.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8340 - East Devon AONB Lidar Assessment and Desk based Assessment

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